The international conference “Scales of the Alimentation: an Asian Perspective” aims at bringing together the French and international scholars of Asia in order to promote a global approach to Asia and to bring together different research institutions based in Europe, therefore to develop the exchanges between different international scholars of Asian societies and experts related to the themes of the food.

Today, Asia is experiencing rapid change. It is a territory of high demographic density where almost 60% of the world population is concentrated, a source of great potential for this region but also critical problems: demographic transition, rapid urbanization, fast economic development of these countries, consequences of natural and human disasters. And yet, a growing number of Europeans are interested in the Asian way of life, and the good Asian gastronomy become part of the enticement of the regional “soft power”.

Our objective is to deliver in-depth analysis and innovative methods arising from research in social and human sciences. We aim to better understand economic, political, institutional, cultural, technological and organizational dynamics of past and present dietary practices in Asia. In particular, we will focus on how the state of food practices and their knowledge is interwoven with other social and technological developments, that are the legacies of expanding and shrinking empires and the mass industrialization.

At the same time, we aim to show an “European vision of Asia”. Given the region’s rich relationship with European political, technological and cultural dominance since the 16th century, European countries share a long and deep history of food with Asian countries. Our presentations will pay attention to how food regimes and dietary practices became an increasingly global affair, with each one exploring an appropriate scale of comparison while undertaking a critical assessment of the “Asian specificity”.